One of the most striking macroeconomic phenomena in recent decades has been the achievement of rather low and more stable rates inflation in many countries in the nineties. Consequently, the main goal of this paper is to offer an overview of the main policy issues arising in a low inflation...

This paper assesses whether domestic costs of reserve accumulation -and in particular monetary costs- constitute an eventual limit to the process in emerging markets. We find that sterilization is the first measure to deal with these costs. Then, we turn to study whether diminishing ability to...

The fiscal theory of the price level has challenged the conventional view that monetary factors drive prices and exchange rates and has also provided a rationale for fiscal restrictions in a monetary union. This paper reviews the main results and compelling criticisms of this theory, analyzing...

We study optimal monetary policy from the timeless perspective in a general state-dependent pricing framework. Firms are monopolistic competitors and are subject to idiosyncratic menu cost shocks. We find that, under isoelastic preferences and no government spending, strict price stability is...

The aim of this paper is twofold. First, I study how the proportion of fixed and variable-rate mortgages in an economy can affect the way shocks are propagated. Second, I analyze optimal implementable simple monetary policy rules and the welfare implications of this proportion. I develop and...